Sunday, August 23, 2009

Major Gomez- The Graveyard Experience- Neil

This story was shared with me by one of my friends; Shanky as we call call him. In Kolkata there are several Christian Graveyards and some of the oldest during the British period. Most of the Graveyards in Kol are quite well maintained however there is one near my house called The Bhavanipore Cemetery, estd. 1904 which unfortunately is quite dilapidated. Shanky's maternal grandfather loved her wife a lot. She had passed away at quite a young age and was buried at Bhavanipore Cemetery. Ever since her death, her husband used to visit her grave almost everyday, place new flowers, light a few incense sticks and pray. This became a regular routine and all the family members had become used to this. At times he used to bring his son along too. A few feet down his wife's grave was another grave that was ill-maintained and almost crumbling. You could barely make out who's grave it was. One day Shanky's Granddad had a dream. In his dream he saw a British gentleman in Military uniform, talking to him. The officer introduced himself as Major Gomez who had served in the British-Indian army during the first world war and had died in battle......Major Gomez said that ever since the Indian independence, all his family members have scattered here and there and no one tends to his grave nor anyone visits even on All Souls Day. "I have seen you pray diligently at your wife's grave", he said. "Can you please light a candle or incense at my grave? I will bless you. My grave is the one that is 6 feet away from your wife's facing North."The very next day he went to the graveyard and followed the direction as told to him in his dream. Lo and behold, it matched word to word!! He investigated the headstone and saw the words, "Here lies Major Angelo Gomez. A Patriot, Devoted Father, Loving husband and a gentleman."Being a spiritual person, Shanky's Grandad henceforth carried with him extra candles everytime he used to visit his wife's grave and used to light one extra candle at the Major's grave.The next day the Major again appeared in his dream and thanked him. This routine went on for quite sometime. One day, he brought his son with him as he used to occasionally. This time, he asked his son to light the extra candle for Major Gomez. His son obeyed but there was no sincerity in him. He looked about the grave with indifference and was wondering why the hell his father was wasting candles on some grave that was old, dilapidated and unrelated to their family. But in any case, he went to do what he was told. The moment he touched the grave stone, he felt a resounding slap. He staggered back shocked and dismayed and above all Scared!!!!!He ran back to his father red faced, speechless and clearly in shock. Shanky's grandada asked his son what had happened and he narrated the whole incident that had occurred a few moments ago. His father started to understand what might have happened......."Son tell me what exactly you were thinking while lighting the candle". Now his son felt a bit embarrassed but told his father what exactly was going on in his mind at that time. Shanky's grandad realized that Major Gomez's spirit probably felt insulted at what his son was thinking.Pushing his son aside, he went to the Major's grave and apologized on behalf of his son and begged for forgiveness and also asked his son to pray.After that day no further incident occurred and everything was fine. R.I.P Major Gomez.